Big man Collins big game leads Wake past Miami

WINSTON-SALEM — John Collins scored a career-high 27 points as Wake Forest build a large early lead and withstood a strong comeback from Miami before finishing with a 96-79 victory on Wednesday night at Lawrence Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C.Miami pulled within six points in the final four minutes after trailing by double figures for most of the game. Wake Forest went on a 13-0 burst, scoring the game;s next six points on foul shots, and then Collins converted for a basket in the lane.Collins, who scored 13 first-half points, finished 9 of 11 from the field.Keyshawn Woods added 20 points, Bryant Crawford 14 points and Mitch Wilbekin 10 points for Wake Forest (11-7, 2-4 ACC), which matched its 2015-16 victory total.The Demon Deacons, who were coming off a one-week layoff, shot 57.7 percent from the field (30 of 52).Davon Reed scored 24 points and Anthony Lawrence Jr. pumped in 16 points for the Hurricanes (12-5, 2-3).Miami entered the game giving up 59.3 points per game, but Wake Forest led 59-37 with 16:15 remaining.The Hurricanes followed with a 15-3 run across a 3 1/2-minute period until Woods answered with a 3-pointer.Fouls mounted on Miami, with Ebuka Izundu fouling out with 9:59 left. However, Wake Forest lost reserve center Doral Moore to fouls with 8:41 to go.The Demon Deacons were back up 76-58 with 8:55 remaining. But with 7:24 left, Wake Forest’s Dinos Mitoglou fouled out and Miami was within 76-66.The margin was down to 82-75 with 4:15 left on Lawrence’s 3-pointer.Wake Forest led 48-34 at halftime, aided by going 12 of 12 on free throws. Lawrence’s 10 first-half points off the bench gave the Hurricanes a chance.Wake Forest was up 9-1 and almost five minutes elapsed before Miami’s first field goal. The lead ballooned to 25-8 and 36-18.